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Don Martindale, Giants defensive coordinator, speaks with the media before...

Don Martindale, Giants defensive coordinator, speaks with the media before training camp at the Quest Diagnostics Training Center in East Rutherford, N.J. on Aug. 3. Credit: James Escher

Wink Martindale spoke to reporters Thursday for the first time since his defense gave up an astounding 640 yards to the Cowboys on Sunday.

He shivered when initially asked about that total.

“It doesn’t happen very often, or you wouldn’t have this job very long,” Martindale said. “It was a tough game. It was really a tough game, but like I said I give Dallas credit. It was one of those games that you make a call, and you feel real good about it until the ball is snapped, and then you are like, ‘Oh, no.’ You know? It was a tough one for all of us.”

The Giants are in a spiral and the defense seems like it has to be the part of the team that does its job.

But at halftime, the Cowboys led, 28-0. The final score was 49-17.

Martindale said he thought his players “fought” during the game. He said he will continue to challenge his players this week, which he said is no different from any other week.

“I think that you’ve got to stay consistent, and you do challenge them, you challenge them every week and the challenge is Washington’s offense," he said. "In this league, there is no easy outs, They are going to step on your throat if they think you’re down. And you do the same thing defensively if you are doing that to an offense.”

Martindale described Commanders tight end Logan Thomas as a “security blanket” for quarterback Sam Howell.

Howell is playing well. He leads the league with 2,783 passing yards. He has thrown 17 touchdowns and nine interceptions.

Tommy DeVito will start again for the Giants. DeVito, an undrafted rookie who replaced an injured Tyrod Taylor against the Jets, has played in the last three games.

“Yeah, we want to start off faster,” DeVito said. “I think that’s pretty clear, that we need to put up points on offense, especially in the first quarter, first half, whatever it was. Just don’t let it get too late in the game how it did last week.”

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